TADA court convicts three; acquits two accused

Mumbai, Oct 10 (UNI) A designated TADA court today convicted three people for allowing use of their trawlers for ferrying deadly arms and ammunition which were used to trigger serial blasts in Mumbai in 1993.

The arms consignment, smuggled by prime absconding accused Tiger Memon, was ferried from mid-sea to Shekhadi coast of Raigad in February, 1993.

All the convicted are residents of Raigad district.

Designated TADA judge Pramod Kode, however, acquitted Yashwant Bhoinkar, Abbas Shekhdare and his brother Shahjehan Shekhdare of charges under TADA as they did not know the contents of consignments shipped to the coast on February 3 and 7 in 1993.

All the three accused, who have been out on bail, were convicted under section 111 (read with section 135) of the Customs Act for the shipment to a place which is not notified as a port under the Act.

The maximum punishment for the crime is three years and a fine.

All the three accused had spent 15 months each in jail before they were let out on bail.

With their conviction, the total number of accused convicted in the multiple blasts case has gone upto 35. Altogether 123 accused, including Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, faced trial in the case.

The court acquitted two other accused- Moinuddin Cheruvatam and Ismail Patel of various charges, including that of being party to the bomb blasts conspiracy.

Moinuddin , a businessman who hails from Kerala, was charged with participating in a conspiracy meeting at Dubai, but prosecution failed to prove the charge and he was, therefore, acquitted.

Ismail, who hails from Gujarat and ran a restaurant in South Mumbai, was charged with funding the visit of absconding co-accused Sheikh Aziz Ahmed to Pakistan via Dubai for arm training. Since the charge was not proved, he, too, was acquitted.

Central Bureau of Investigation, the prosecuting agency, said Moinuddin had visited Dubai and held a meeting with another absconding accused Tahir Taklya.

Moinuddin was showed a video film of communal riots in Mumbai by Taklya and they together planned the terror act to avenge the killings of Muslims in the riots which occurred in the aftermath of Babri Masjid demolition at Ayodhaya on December 6, 1992.

Yashwant Bhoinkar was charged with offering his trawler to Tiger Memon for transporting the smuggled arsenal from the high seas to the Shekhadi shores on February 3 and 7, 1993.

However, the court absolved him of TADA charges , observing that the accused was not really aware of the contents of the consignments. Similarly, he was also acquitted of the conspiracy charge under section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code and under section 3(3) of the Arms Act. Bhoinkar was, however, held guilty under section 111 (read with section 135) of the Customs Act.

The two brothers -- Abbas Shekhdare and Shahjehan Shekhdare -- whose trawlers, too, were used for ferrying the arsenal, were also held guilty under the Customs Act but absolved of conspiracy charges.

When declared guilty, all the three accused broke down. All in their seventies, they later joined elderly convicts like Dawood Phanse, 82 , as their bail bonds were cancelled and they were taken into custody.

Moinuddin and Ismail thanked the judge following their acquittal.

UNI XR SA YA VV1830